Leeds vs. Liverpool final score: Premier League result, stats as Tanaka snatches draw in Elland Road thriller

Fulltime

Elland Road is bouncing. What an astonishing finale. Liverpool had this game in the palm of their hand until Ibrahima Konate launched into a slide tackle and they dropped it. After Leeds got back to 2-2, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s penalty and Anton Stach’s thumping finish cancelling out Hugo Ekitike’s double, Dominik Szoboszlai looked to have won it for the visitors. But no, Arne Slot’s men threw it all away and Ao Tanaka pouched himself an Elland Road moment that will live long in the memory.

90+5 mins: GGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Ao Tanaka!!!!!!

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT, THEY’VE DONE IT! Leeds’ second corner in quick succession is swung into the goalmouth, Liverpool don’t deal with it and there’s Tanaka at the back post, smartly drilling his finish into the turf and in. Absolute bedlam here. Look at the scenes!

90+3 mins: Final change for Leeds, as Bornauw comes on for Bogle.

90+2 mins: He doesn’t, it’s taken short to Gnonto, who’s ball into the area is half cleared by Jones. The follow-up runs through to Alisson.

90+1 mins: Gomez smashes into Gnonto and is booked. Stach will smash this into the box.

90 mins: Nine minutes added time. Well, since we’re all having so much fun…

87 mins: Farke rolls the dice, with Piroe on for Ampadu.

83 mins: Isak on for Ekitike and Endo for Gakpo for Liverpool. With the latter of those changes, Slot definitely making a concession to shutting up shop. Unless Leeds score again, Mohamed Salah is having the afternoon off.

80 mins: GOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Dominik Szoboszlai!!!!!

Liverpool have their lead back. What a crazy few minutes. Gravenberch strides forward from midfield, Mac Allister dummies his pass beautifully and Szoboszlai times his run perfectly for a finish that leaves Perri with no chance.

75 mins: GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!! Anton Stach!!!!!!!!

OH MY, IT’S 2-2!!!!! Great play down the left from the substitute Aaronson, who finds Stach inside the box. The midfielder engineers room and smashes past Alisson.

73 mins: GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!! Dominic Calvert-Lewin (pen)!!!!!!!

Alisson guesses right but Calvert-Lewin’s kick is high into the net. Liverpool had this game locked down but Konate effectively denied his team a goal kick by giving away a penalty. Now Elland Road is rocking and we have a grandstand finish.

72 mins: PENALTY TO LEEDS! Goodness, what was Konate doing. Calvert-Lewin to take.

71 mins: Anthony Taylor is going to the screen. I think Konate is toast here. 

70 mins: Ohhhh, Ibrahima Konate, what are you doing. Gnonto was darting down a blind alley there, but Konate slides in and brings him down right on the byline inside the area. Could be a penalty.

68 mins: Double change for Liverpool, with Mac Allister and Gomez on for Wirtz and Bradley. They also have a corner on the right, which Konate gets up to meet and Perri saves.

65 mins: Fabulous close-range stop from Alisson to deny Bogle from Calvert-Lewin’s flick-on. The offside flag goes up, but he wasn’t to know that. Okafor, Bijol and Gruev the men to make way.

63 mins: It’s a triple change comning up from Farke. Tanaka, Gnonto and Aaronson coming on. They’ve been getting fairly extensive instructions. I’d guess Leeds will revert to 4-3-3.

59 mins: Leeds subs warming up and the fans are chanting for Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka.

57 mins: Jones darts through a couple of challenges and tries to slot through Ekitike for his hat-trick. It’s a tough pass to pull off, however, and Perri is out to claim.

53 mins: Perri is going to soldier on but a VAR check for offside confirms his side have a mountain to climb.

50 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Hugo Ekitike!!!!!

Liverpool go bang-bang. Ekitike just had penalty appeal turned down. Again, Leeds make a mess of getting out, Bradley curls in a delicious low cross and Ekitike gets there ahead of Perri, who is down and needing treatment.

48 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! Hugo Ekitike!!!!!

Liverpool lead but it’s an early Christmas present from Rodon, who plays a perilous pass across his own final third. Ekitike can hardly believe his luck and coolly slots home.

Kickoff: 2nd Half

We’re back underway and the rain has stopped. The playing surface looks a bit cut up, though.

Halftime

Perri launches one more long punt towards the Liverpool box, the mud-stained Calvert-Lewin contests it and that’s halftime. Liverpool have probably shaded this and Jones went closest when he hit the bar with a fabulous effort. But they still look brittle defensively and are just not a team you can trust right now.

45+3 mins: Bradley, for reasons best known to himself, has ended up tearing into midfield and clattering through Ampadu to be booked. 

45 mins: Three minutes of time to be added onto a half where industry has trumped quality.

41 mins: Gakpo thumps the corner right into Perri’s goalmouth but Leeds manage to scramble away.

40 mins: Liverpool break. Oh yikes, Gakpo looks offside. Anyway, play on. The Dutchman gets into the box and has a shot deflected just wide. A corner, and now wild fury.

39 mins: Stach thwacks a free-kick into the Liverpool area from near the centre circle. We’ve got our football back, etc. The glancing header from the crowd lands in Alisson’s gloves.

35 mins; Careless giveaway by Gravenberch. Ampadu surges forward and drills a pass into Okafor. Bradley manages to nip in before he can get a shot away. Leeds win a corner, from which Calvert-Lewin takes a tumble but there’s nothing to be had there.

26 mins: Ooohhhhh, Van Dijk charges in to meet the setpiece delivery but heads over. You’d expect him to do better from there.

25 mins: Gudmundsson clatters through Bradley. It’s an obvious free-kick and yellow card but the locals are furious.

22 mins: Liverpool’s set-piece specialist thumps it harmlessly off target. Ohhh, at the other end that’s a terrible back header from Van Dijk that leaves Konate in a tangle agaisnt Okafor. Liverpool manage to scramble clear.

21 mins: Free-kick to Liverpool, about 25 yards out and slightly left of centre. Szoboszlai very much fancies it.

18 mins: Vicious in-swinging cross from the left by Gakpo and Ekitike was not far away.

16 mins: Jones hits the crossbar! The Liverpool midfielder shifts the ball onto his right foot on the right-hand corner of the penalty area and rattles the furniture. Perri didn’t have a chance. Now a Wirtz shot is deflected over and it’s a corner.

15 mins: The frantic start Leeds inflicted upon Liverpool has come back to bite them a bit as they can’t hold onto the ball and calm things down. Plenty of bodies behind the ball, though, and Gakpo has a thudding shot blocked.

12 mins: Rodon and then Perri get up top ball hung into the Leeds box. It could have been more convincing, but they survive.

8 mins: Kerkez heavily involved early on, for better or worse. Now he batters a shot way over from about 30 yards.

6 mins: The corner is woefully under-hit, but that was. a messy clearance from Kerkez. He headed it into his own arm, though, So no penalty after a quick check at Stockley Park.

5 mins: The early Leeds pressure continues as Kerkez deflexts Okafor’s shot behind for a corner.

3 mins: Leeds free-kick in the Liverpool box cleared as far as Gudmundsson. It sits up invitingly for the left wing-back, who catches it sweetly but that was never dipping enough.

2 mins: Almost a dream start for Leeds! Okafor nips in between Konate and Bradley and drags a bouncing ball wide from the edge of the box.

Kickoff: 1st Half

Liverpool get us underway and Van Dijk pumps a long ball towards the Leeds box. I could have sworn Slot hates that sort of thing. Anyway, the visitors have a free-kick on the right. Szoboszlai whips it in and it’s headed away.

3 mins before kickoff: Here come the two teams. Lively atmosphere as it tends to be for the Saturday evening kickoff in the Premier League. Elland Road packed and into a rousing rendition of Marching On Together.

30 mins before kickoff: Players going through their warmups now and the weather out there is absolutely filthy. It’s hosing it down. All adds to the sense of this being an away day Liverpool would rather not be negotiating at this precise moment.

1 hour before kickoff: The big news for Leeds is that Dominic Calvert-Lewin has made it and starts up front. The former Everton striker sure to attract plenty of entertainment this afternoon.

Leeds’ win over Chelsea came at a cost, with forward duo Dominic Calvert-Lewin (calf) and Lukas Nmecha (hamstring) each suffering injuries. Nmecha is out but Calvert-Lewin has recovered to partner Noah Okafor in attack,

James Justin was a substitute in midweek after suffering a knock against Manchester City. Jayden Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson continue in the wing-back positions, with James on the bench.

Daniel James (hamstring) and Sean Longstaff (calf) are sidelined.

Leeds starting XI (5-3-2, right to left): Perri (GK) — Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Gudmundsson— Stach, Gruev, Ampadu — Calvert-Lewin, Okafor

Leeds subs: Darlow (GK), Piroe, Aaronson, Harrison, Tanaka, Bornauw, Justin, Byram, Gnonto

Slot confirmed on Friday that Conor Bradley should be ready to return to the matchday squad after around three weeks out with a muscle injury. He could replace Joe Gomez, who is not likely to start two games in such quick succession.

Dominiki Szoboszlai started on the right against Sunderland and could continue in that role if Slot decides to keep Mohamed Salah on the bench once more. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak each started in midweek, so Hugo Ekitike may be brought in to lead the line this time, with Isak dropping to the bench.

Wirtz will keep his place unless Salah or Curtis Jones are given minutes.

Liverpool starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left):  Alisson (GK) — Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez — Gravenberch, Jones — Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Gakpo —Ekitike

Liverpool subs: Manardashvili (GK), Gomez, Endo, Isak, Mac Allister, Salah, Chiesa, Robertson, Ngumoha

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